High Quality Japanese Koi

Japan Day II – Omosako

From Sakai we drove an hour or so cross country to Omosako Koi Farm. Heading into a fish house we located a number of our azukari koi. Some of these koi have been here 2 years now, and as expected have grown really well and developed brilliantly. We have 4 Sansai, 2 of which we purchased back on our first Japan trip in early 2015.

April 2015 we purchased these two koi, both around 22-25cm at the time, now they are around 65cm and Sansai. Seriously pleased with how these have done, they’ll both be coming back to the UK in the coming months.

The 2 other Azukari Koi we selected last year as Nisai, now Sansai these are again around the 65cm mark.

The first being this stunning Shiro Utsuri that has all the makings of a top class koi. The sumi quality and skin quality is jaw-dropping. The head pattern has developed perfectly since the last time we saw her, really completing this koi.

The second is a totally different, with what Takahiro Omosako calls “upside down” sumi. This Sumi style is of a totally different nature to the sumi we see more commonly. It can change quickly and drastically. This koi will certainly be on to watch. A huge body and potentially a very balanced pattern to develop. Very interesting koi to watch.

After viewing our Azukari Koi we dipped the net into the sales ponds. First up a Sansai Shiro Utsuri and a Yonsai Shiro. The Sansai in excess of 65cm, and the Yonsai around the 72-75cm mark. Both with great qualities. The Yonsai one in particular will be an interesting one to watch, the body shape on this koi is phenomenal, albeit slender at the moment. The head to body length ratio is very good and it has more of a Sanke type body opposed to a typical Shiro Utsuri body. This koi is going to get to a great size. As with all Shiro Utsuri’s the Sumi is a gamble, but there are good signs of the actual sumi quality by the tail and tight Motoguro of the pectoral fins.

The Sansai has beautiful qualities about it, very nice body shape for a Shiro. A simple pattern but the way it seems to be finishing it’ll be a really elegant refined koi. The Sumi quality itself is very good contrasted with wonderful snow white Shiroji.

Off to a very good start we started to hone in on some smaller koi. Walking around the facility we saw koi in abundance, of course mainly Shiro Utsuri. We found one Nisai pond in particular with a handful of nice koi in. Not sure on the sex we duly bowled the koi. Omosako informed us these koi were male, not to worry we said! Omosako proceeded to give us a very attractive price for the koi in the bowl. We continued to bowl more koi from the pond…

Eventually we had pretty much picked out the whole pond! 43 Nisai later. Deal struck! Mainly Shiro Utsuris, with a handful of Showas/Kohaku/Gin Rin Showa. Due to the number selected and the time we had, I couldn’t get individual shots of each koi. So we set up a vat and videoed the koi.

Here are all of the koi selected, as you can see we have been busy!

On a bit of a roll we managed to twist Takahiro’s arm into letting us select some of his better quality Tosai Shiro Utsuri and Gin Rin Shiro Utsuri. Selecting through a pond we managed to pick 56 fish. Some lovely little gems here. These will be great fun to watch develop. Videos below show the selections, after the video on an even closer inspection one or two were placed back into the pond, and new ones selected.

A very productive few hours at Omosako. I think we’ve put a huge tick in the Shiro Utsuri box !

Just before leaving the farm, we had one last look around the ponds. Trying to take my eyes off all of the Shiro Utsuri I started to look at slightly different varieties. Omosako also produce lovely Kujaku, Goshiki, Gin Rin Showa, Showa and Tancho varieties.

Two koi among a sea of black and white made their way into the bowl…

More to follow.

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